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In 1992, Eugene Buchanan, publisher and editor of Paddler magazine, traveled with three friends to the former Soviet Union, joined up with a group of Latvian paddlers they'd never met and ran one of the hardest, most dangerous rivers in Russia, the Bashkaus. A few years later, NOLS (National Outdoor Leadership School) used the Bashkus trip as a case study to demonstrate why some expeditions succeed and others fail.

So, do they make it or not? As you expectantly turn every page of Buchanan's new book chronicling their journey, Brothers on the Bashkaus, you'll almost forget you asked that question as you get sucked into the story and get to know the cast of characters.

Starting with the making of the raft, which includes "300 peeled hot dogs of larch [wood]," logs, webbing and a few pieces of metal salvaged from a cot, to the rationing and counting out of every single bite of food, including the jellybeans Buchanan and friends brought, to the Russian version of rock, paper, scissors (dubbed "RoShamBolovich"), Buchanan draws you in to the adventure as if you were there eating pork fat and fish-eye soup right along with them. His detail-rich recounting of their adventures is also punctuated with brief yet insightful commentaries and bits of history.

As much an exploration into the culture of post-Soviet Union Russia as it is a story about boating and bonding, Brothers on the Bashkaus has you terrified one minute and laughing your ass off the next. Be forewarned: You might find yourself staying up all night to finish it.

ISBN: 1-55591-608-2